LTC:: The Litecoin

Hello Steem Alliance Community

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Today we will discuss about Litecoin in detail. We will see what is LTC , history of LTC , lightening network, BTC vs LTC , future of LTC , investment in LTC.

Define Litecoin (LTC)

LTC is a cryptocurrency which was created by a Google engineer Charles Lee in october,2011 . Just like Bitcoin, LTC is based on an open network payment methods which is not governed by any central power.

Key Takeaways

Litecoin is an early altcoin developed in 2011 by former Google engineer Charlie Lee. It has been referred to as the "silver to Bitcoin's gold" and was the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap at its peak. Because its structure is similar to Bitcoin, it has been used as a testnet oLTC:: The Litecoin r testing ground for improvements that were later implemented on Bitcoin.

History of Litecoin (LTC)

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Litecoin is considered to be one of the first altcoins derived from the original open-source code of Bitcoin. In the initial stages , Litecoin was considered to be a strong rival to Bitcoin but as the cryptocurrency market got more dripped and aggressive its popularity decreased.

Litecoin was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate and former Google engineer Charlie Lee, who became interested in Bitcoin in 2011.

Segregated Witness (SegWit) works by "segregating" digital signal data ("witnesses") outside of the base blocks in the blockchain. SegWit was developed to address Bitcoin's scalability problem by giving blocks more room for information, but the proposal caused deep controversy within the community.

In 2017, Litecoin adopted SegWit, and due to Litecoin's similarity to Bitcoin, it served as a testing ground for SegWit's viability on the larger Bitcoin network. The test was successful and Bitcoin adopted SegWit thereafter. Some opponents of SegWit adoption, who advocated for a larger Bitcoin block size, created a Bitcoin hard fork that resulted in Bitcoin Cash.

Lightning Network

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The Lightning Network is a second-layer technology for Bitcoin that uses micropayment channels to increase the capacity of its blockchain to carry out transactions.
MimbleWimble is a privacy protocol based on confidential transactions that encrypts or obscures information such as transaction amounts.Litecoin is a minable cryptocurrency.

Litecoin (LTC) vs. Bitcoin (BTC)

Litecoin was launched with the aim of creating a cryptocurrency used in small transactions. Lee also developed Litecoin to improve upon Bitcoin's shortcomings.

Litecoin is designed to produce four times more blocks than Bitcoin (1 new block every 2.5 minutes against Bitcoin's 10), and it also allows for 4 times the coin's limit. However, Litecoin produces tokens at four times the rate of Bitcoin and has a smaller network, so it uses less energy to generate block rewards (at least in May 2024).

Scrypt Proof-of-Work Algorithm

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Bitcoin and Litecoin both use proof-of-work (PoW). Basically, PoW requires that one party proves to all other parties participating in the network that the required amount of computational effort has been expended.
Scrypt is a password-based key derivation function. Bitcoin's SHA-256 algorithm does not require much random access memory (RAM) as a barrier to parallel processing, while Scrypt does.

In the early 2010s, as mining operations developed specialized hardware – such as application-specific circuits (ASICs) – to solve SHA-256 hashing, it appeared that Bitcoin was vulnerable to such an attack. By making Litecoin's consensus algorithm memory intensive, Lee tried to thwart the hardware arms race, although in practice, this did not happen as ASIC designers found a way to make Scrypt miners even more so.

The Future of Litecoin

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Until may 2024 , we have seen that there were no new features, but that doesn't mean that it has no future .The Litecoin Foundation GitHub page shows activity in its Litewallet for Android and iOS and no other projects related to the Litecoin core blockchain or network. Its founders see a future where only a few cryptocurrencies survive – and they hope Litecoin will be one of them.

Is Litecoin Investing Legit?

Investing in Litecoin is legit. You can mine it or buy and sell it on an exchange. The decision for investment in Litecoin depends one's financial condition and a complete knowledge on Litecoin’s fate . A financial advisor can help you decide if it's right for your portfolio.

Does Litecoin have a future?

It’s hard to determine whether Litecoin will stick around. Litecoin's development team is quick and it has a well user base . It is still mined and used for trading and exchange. Litecoin is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies and has well participated in crypto winners. That doesn’t mean it will last, but it is a sign of its staying power.

Is Litecoin a good investment?

This depends upon you and your knowledge of Litecoin and its marketing. For some it feels like beneficial and for some it's worthless.

What is the fate of Litecoin in the next 5 years?

Litecoin may be useless or can hold a value of millions . Everything depends on market , investors and customer demands .
Cryptocurrency prices are volatile, reacting to news, geographic events and economics, hype, regulatory releases and actions, and more. The future price of Litecoin cannot be predicted as there are so many factors that can influence it.

The Bottom Line

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Litecoin was hard-forked from Bitcoin in 2011. It uses cryptanalytic mechanism for verification of transactions. Litecoin is a method for payments and operating new blocks but has become a mode for hypothesizing and financing.
The comments, opinions, and analysis expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only.

Thankyou

India, 20.05.2024
@moyeon